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dantastic's review against another edition
4.0
I picked up Gladiator because I heard it was an inspiration for Doc Savage and Superman. That is an understandment.
Gladiator is the story of Hugo Danner. Hugo is the son of a scientist who injected him with a serum when he was still in the womb, giving him unbelievable strength. For example, Hugo kills a bully at school with his superhuman strength, branding him an outsider for the rest of his life.
Over the course of the book, Hugo goes from relationship to relationship, works in a circus, fights in a war, all the while looking for a place to belong. Hugo being an outsider reminded me a lot of the way The Hulk and the X-Men are treated. In fact, Hugo's story seems like the template for a lot of later superhero characters.
I'd recommend this to any comic book or Doc Savage fan interested in looking at the ancestor of their heroes.
Gladiator is the story of Hugo Danner. Hugo is the son of a scientist who injected him with a serum when he was still in the womb, giving him unbelievable strength. For example, Hugo kills a bully at school with his superhuman strength, branding him an outsider for the rest of his life.
Over the course of the book, Hugo goes from relationship to relationship, works in a circus, fights in a war, all the while looking for a place to belong. Hugo being an outsider reminded me a lot of the way The Hulk and the X-Men are treated. In fact, Hugo's story seems like the template for a lot of later superhero characters.
I'd recommend this to any comic book or Doc Savage fan interested in looking at the ancestor of their heroes.
tarmstrong112's review
2.0
I felt this book started off very strong but the longer it went on, the worse it got until it became a chore to read.
jcovey's review against another edition
4.0
An early, cynical take on the superman. No fatuous cycle of stopping petty criminals for this Clark Kent, no, only the highest stakes. Desperately he searches his whole life through for a way to uplift humanity with his prodigious strength until finally in despair he accepts that the mass of mankind can be moved by nothing but its own ponderous inertia. Bleak but engrossing stuff.
koki_siringo's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
schwarzer_elch's review against another edition
3.0
Compré el libro porque llamó mi atención que fuera "la novela que inspiró Superman". Y aunque Hugo Danner (el protagonista de [b:Gladiator: El superhombre.|33967458|Gladiator El superhombre.|Philip Wylie|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1485109883i/33967458._SX50_.jpg|900608]) y Clark Kent no tienen mucho en común, sí hay que reconocer que el primero es la base para los súper héroes que aparecieron tiempo después.
El texto me resultó interesante por tres motivos:
(1) Porque reflexiona sobre lo que implica ser diferente y el aislamiento, impuesto por otros y por uno mismo, al que se enfrentan aquellos que lo son
(2) Porque a través de la vida de su protagonista, recorre la historia de la formación del actual Estados Unidos.
(3) Porque refleja el modo de pensar de una época y los valores (o anti valores) que se le atribuían a diferentes objetos (como el dinero), situaciones (la guerra) o grupos sociales (las mujeres, quiénes, por cierto, quedan muy mal paradas en esta historia).
A pesar de estos puntos que me resultaron atractivos, la historia no me cautivó del todo e, incluso, por momentos se me hizo difícil de leer (creo que, en parte, esto último se debe a que la edición que conseguí parece no haber pasado, si quiera, por corrección de estilo, pues hay varios errores fácilmente detectables). Pero siempre es bueno acercarse a textos de otras épocas que, aún sin saberlo nosotros, ayudaron a definir elementos característicos de nuestro tiempo, tal como resultan ser los personajes de DC, Marvel y otras compañías.
El texto me resultó interesante por tres motivos:
(1) Porque reflexiona sobre lo que implica ser diferente y el aislamiento, impuesto por otros y por uno mismo, al que se enfrentan aquellos que lo son
(2) Porque a través de la vida de su protagonista, recorre la historia de la formación del actual Estados Unidos.
(3) Porque refleja el modo de pensar de una época y los valores (o anti valores) que se le atribuían a diferentes objetos (como el dinero), situaciones (la guerra) o grupos sociales (las mujeres, quiénes, por cierto, quedan muy mal paradas en esta historia).
A pesar de estos puntos que me resultaron atractivos, la historia no me cautivó del todo e, incluso, por momentos se me hizo difícil de leer (creo que, en parte, esto último se debe a que la edición que conseguí parece no haber pasado, si quiera, por corrección de estilo, pues hay varios errores fácilmente detectables). Pero siempre es bueno acercarse a textos de otras épocas que, aún sin saberlo nosotros, ayudaron a definir elementos característicos de nuestro tiempo, tal como resultan ser los personajes de DC, Marvel y otras compañías.
oleksandr's review against another edition
3.0
This is a SF novel that can be viewed as one of the progenitors of Superman. Originally published in 1930 it contains some ideas that later became a trope of Superhero genre.
The story start with a scientist, Abednego Danner, who was a professor of biology in a small college in the town of Indian Creek. He was interested in the fact that “An ant can carry a large spider—yet an ant is tissue and fiber, like a man. If a man could be given the same sinews—he could walk off with his own house”, “Consider the grasshoppers. Make a man as strong as a grasshopper—and he'll be able to leap over a church. I tell you, there is something that determines the quality of every muscle and nerve”. Compare this with an early description published in Action Comics #1 that also compared Superman’s great strength to an ant’s ability to carry hundreds of times its own weight and a grasshopper’s ability to leap great distances. Even the insects used for the comparison are the same!
The biologist finds a serum that increases the strength and after several experiments with animals, injects it into his wife (without her knowledge). The son is born on X-mas Eve, named Hugo Danner. The rest of the story depicts his life, from crib to school, to collage and sports, to the Great war and beyond. He never dons a cape but he deeds several feats worthy of the early (late 30s) Superman.
The story is rather uneven, it starts great with jokes and sitcom moments, witty phrases like “As a scientist he was passionately intrigued by the idea. As a husband he was dubious. As a member of society he was terrified.” Or “The village is known for the speed of its gossip and the sloth of its intelligence.” However, closer to the middle it loses the steam and starts to slog, with minor improvements up until the end. The ending however is great and unexpected (at least for me). What I found unusual for a 30s book is that there is a lot of sex, not in terms of scenes of intercourse (there are none), but that it is talked at all – Hugo has quite a few partners during the story.
The story start with a scientist, Abednego Danner, who was a professor of biology in a small college in the town of Indian Creek. He was interested in the fact that “An ant can carry a large spider—yet an ant is tissue and fiber, like a man. If a man could be given the same sinews—he could walk off with his own house”, “Consider the grasshoppers. Make a man as strong as a grasshopper—and he'll be able to leap over a church. I tell you, there is something that determines the quality of every muscle and nerve”. Compare this with an early description published in Action Comics #1 that also compared Superman’s great strength to an ant’s ability to carry hundreds of times its own weight and a grasshopper’s ability to leap great distances. Even the insects used for the comparison are the same!
The biologist finds a serum that increases the strength and after several experiments with animals, injects it into his wife (without her knowledge). The son is born on X-mas Eve, named Hugo Danner. The rest of the story depicts his life, from crib to school, to collage and sports, to the Great war and beyond. He never dons a cape but he deeds several feats worthy of the early (late 30s) Superman.
The story is rather uneven, it starts great with jokes and sitcom moments, witty phrases like “As a scientist he was passionately intrigued by the idea. As a husband he was dubious. As a member of society he was terrified.” Or “The village is known for the speed of its gossip and the sloth of its intelligence.” However, closer to the middle it loses the steam and starts to slog, with minor improvements up until the end. The ending however is great and unexpected (at least for me). What I found unusual for a 30s book is that there is a lot of sex, not in terms of scenes of intercourse (there are none), but that it is talked at all – Hugo has quite a few partners during the story.
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